Winter's coming and your favorite crusty bread is nowhere to be found?
Try freezing. Bread, and crusty breads in particular, freeze really
well. Put the bread in a paper bag, then wrap in a plastic bag and toss
it in the freezer. When you want to eat it, let it sit on the counter until thawed and enjoy. For added ease, slice the bread first
and pop the frozen slices straight into the toaster, from frozen to
delicious in 2 minutes.

--Andy Pfandler, Russell's Breads

Featured Produce

Part
of the beauty of farmers' markets is that our produce changes with the
seasons. Stay current with weekly produce highlights here!

This Saturday, November 21st, is our final market of the 2009 Season! Join us for great music, free give-aways, and a fabulous season finale.

Just as they opened the market for us back in May, the ever-popular band Sneakin' Out will close the 2009 Season, interspersed with our first ever Vendor Talent Show!

Thanks to the generous folks at OPB, we are giving away free copies of the book The Meaning of Foodto the first 100 customers. Make sure to come to the Information Booth on the corner of 44th & Hancock or ask a volunteer in order to get your copy!

Take advantage of late season produce for your Thanksgiving feast and locally made crafts for some early holiday shopping.

Cooking Demonstration: Morgan JacobsonLast Saturday at the Hollywood Farmers' Market, Morgan Jacobson demonstrated the preparation of a beautiful and impressively delicious soup, and served it to delighted market-goers. Soup tasters were enchanted enough with the warming blend that the recipes were gone before 11am! It is included below for those of you who are keen on enjoying it at home.

Dot Survey Download: A Year-Round Market?by Anne Berblinger, HFM Board MemberThis is the second article discussing customer comments on the annual dot survey conducted at the Hollywood Farmers' Market. The Hollywood
Farmers Market has done a "dot survey" for many years now. We always
have structured questions as well as an option for customer
comments. Customers who agree with a given comment can use one of their
dots to support that comment.

The second most popular subject for
this year's comments was the possibility of a year-round market.The HFM Board has extended the season twice since we, at Gales Meadow Farm, have been vendors: once from the last weekend in May to the first; and in 2007 the market added November. Perhaps it is time to think about operating year-round.There are two issues, and both of them have to do with winter weather. We all know we can pretty well count on rain and cold from November through April (actually May too, but I am in denial about that). In the Hollywood neighborhood, we have the east wind and the chance of ice storms. And when the weather is nasty, the customer count and vendor sales plummet.

The customer count for November 7th this
year (not so bad for the first hour and a half, then frigid rain, wind,
a floodway racing down Hancock - surely you remember!) was only 1242
people, about half the number of the week before.
Our sales at Gales Meadow Farm were about 60% of what they were the
week before and the week after.

Being at the market, transporting the
produce, staffing the booth - all are costly and margins are thin.
Vendors need to carefully consider whether a winter market is
worthwhile. (We did try the December and January markets at the Hillsdale Farmers Market
just one year, and it did not pay. We start at Hillsdale in March
each year, and that has been successful.) The other issue is availability of product. This is not as much of an issue for prepared food vendors, or meat, cheese, seafood, and beverage vendors. Produce vendors in our region can have fresh produce available year round, but not the amazing abundance and variety of summer. However, it requires a lot of effort and investment.

If there were enough customers who truly embraced seasonal food, and were willing to buy
root vegetables, greens, winter squash from storage and other winter
produce at every market, a winter market could work for some of the
produce vendors at Hollywood.More ideas
from you, the customers, would be helpful. Do you know of a venue which
could host the market out of the weather? Would you be there week in
and week out as you are in summer and fall?

Please contact the market at info@hollywoodfarmersmarket.org if you have thoughts on this.There are some year-round markets not too far away: Hillsdale (every other Sunday, December - April), Lloyd (every Tuesday) and People's Co-op (every Wednesday). The vendors at these markets would appreciate your support.Dot Survey Comments:Is there any way the market can be kept open year round? 24Wish it was open longer 17Year round, please! I love the market and all the people! 13Year round 12Wish it could be year round! 9

Community Booths

Learn more about the organizations tabling at the market each week in our community booth column.

Working to fulfill their mission of "ending domestic and sexual violence
by providing confidential support services and education to empower our
community," the Portland Women's Crisis Line (PWCL) operates a
comprehensive 24/7 Crisis Line and Sexual Assault Advocacy Program. In
any language, the Crisis Line can provide needs assessments, peer
support, safety planning, crisis intervention and information and
referrals to community resources.

PWCL's Shared Vision emphasizes stability and sustainability for the
agency regarding funding, staff and board retention, and responsive and
evolving programs and services which focus on outreach and
collaboration with others. Come visit their booth this weekend!

As the oldest Habitat for Humanity affiliate on the West Coast, and the
largest in Oregon, Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East has served
low-income, hardworking families for over 25 years and has served over
160 families. Our homeowners are committed and successful. We have
experienced less than a 1% default rate on our mortgages, lower than
the national average. By providing a hand up, not a handout, our
program maintains the dignity and pride of our homeowner families.

The Hollywood Farmers' Market is open Saturdays, May through October from 8am - 1pm and November 7, 14, and 21 from 9am - 1pm. We are located on NE Hancock Street between 44th and 45th Avenues (one block South of Sandy Blvd).